Lonely Chick

[Teenp1]

Please could you help.
Yesterday my lovely Araucana died. She hadn’t looked well all day and didn’t come out of her coop. She fitted and died. My daughter was with her and was mortified.
Have any of you any idea what could of caused this and is my other chicken likely to die or be lonely even. Only kept two. x

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately there is no way to know the cause of death without further investigation. Having a necropsy/testing performed by your State Lab would give you answers.

How old is the other chicken that is left? She will probably be lonely since chickens are flock animals. You may be able to find a couple of chickens her age on craigslist to re-build your flock.

 

[BY Bob]

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss. I know how devastating it can be.

I highly endorse you finding her a flock mate. Chickens are social birds and do best with someone to hang out with. We tried keeping only 2 for several years and we were scrambling to find a new friend a couple of times. We then went to 3 to have a "spare". Here is our spare chicken, the beautiful Lilly.

Unfortuntely, Lilly is no longer a "spare" as my dear Daisy passed a few weeks ago. What having a flock of three has provided is time to decide what we wanted to do next with our flock.

Additionally the members of a flock serve different roles. Without companions a lone hen will be responsible for everything. For example, In a typical flock, one of the members assumes the role of a sentry (Sentinel). They watch for predators while eveyone else searches for food confident that someone is watching for them. The Sentinal is never the Alfa hen (if there is no rooster). Once we went to 3 hens I was able to watch this behavior save the flock from attack a few times (skunks and hawks). Daisy would have been hawk food if not for Patsy's alert. Daisy managed to duck into a lilac bush just in time. My Patsy was apppinted permanent Sentinal by the flock and she has done a great job keeping everyone safe.

Always remember, it is your flock, you care for them as best you can. Whatever I suggest is just my opinion.

Having said that, I would reccomend you go to three hens. I feel it is a much more stable flock size than two. It is not really chicken math (or so i keep telling myself).

 

[Teenp1]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately there is no way to know the cause of death without further investigation. Having a necropsy/testing performed by your State Lab would give you answers.

How old is the other chicken that is left? She will probably be lonely since chickens are flock animals. You may be able to find a couple of chickens her age on craigslist to re-build your flock.

She is two now and i know she is definitely lonely. She wont leave us alone. Still feels very raw.

 

[Teenp1]

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss. I know how devastating it can be.

I highly endorse you finding her a flock mate. Chickens are social birds and do best with someone to hang out with. We tried keeping only 2 for several years and we were scrambling to find a new friend a couple of times. We then went to 3 to have a "spare". Here is our spare chicken, the beautiful Lilly.
View attachment 1462543
Unfortuntely, Lilly is no longer a "spare" as my dear Daisy passed a few weeks ago. What having a flock of three has provided is time to decide what we wanted to do next with our flock.

Additionally the members of a flock serve different roles. Without companions a lone hen will be responsible for everything. For example, In a typical flock, one of the members assumes the role of a sentry (Sentinel). They watch for predators while eveyone else searches for food confident that someone is watching for them. The Sentinal is never the Alfa hen (if there is no rooster). Once we went to 3 hens I was able to watch this behavior save the flock from attack a few times (skunks and hawks). Daisy would have been hawk food if not for Patsy's alert. Daisy managed to duck into a lilac bush just in time. My Patsy was apppinted permanent Sentinal by the flock and she has done a great job keeping everyone safe.

Always remember, it is your flock, you care for them as best you can. Whatever I suggest is just my opinion.

Having said that, I would reccomend you go to three hens. I feel it is a much more stable flock size than two. It is not really chicken math (or so i keep telling myself).

Tha k you I appreciate your help x

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is two now and i know she is definitely lonely. She wont leave us alone. Still feels very raw.

I would try to find a few chickens to keep her company. Do you have room for some chicks? Even though they would be younger, you may not have the integration challenge that you can potentially have by bringing in adults.

 

[Teenp1]

I would try to find a few chickens to keep her company. Do you have room for some chicks? Even though they would be younger, you may not have the integration challenge that you can potentially have by bringing in adults.

I’m sure we can sort something. I denfinatly dont like her being on her own. Aww bless her x

 

[BY Bob]

I can say that in my experience 1 hen will readily accept other grown hens but I have had a lot of trouble trying to integrate a new pullet. For what that is worth. It may be unique to my experience but that is what I have seen.

 

[Teenp1]

So i got another chicken, white leghorn, she’s beautiful but unfortunately not getting on with my other chicken.
Its been two weeks.
Still missing my americuna x

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So i got another chicken, white leghorn, she’s beautiful but unfortunately not getting on with my other chicken.
Its been two weeks.
Still missing my americuna x

I'm sorry that integration is not going to well for you.
How much space do you have?

White Leghorns are very nice birds. I only have one, but she is the "independent" girl of the bunch. She's not necessarily a "buddy" type chicken. She gets along o.k. with the others, but pretty much does her own thing. Even though on the smaller end of the Large Fowl scale, with their activity level they do need room. How much space do you have in your coop/run?

When do you see the two not getting along the most? Is there a pattern, say like during treat time, roosting, at the feeder, etc.?